WHITBY -- It was a night of firsts for the Brooklin Redmen Wednesday, but they were more concerned with something that’s happened routinely this season: picking up another two points.

Shawn Williams scored his first two goals of the season and goalie Zach Higgins scored the first of his career as the Redmen played to a 9-5 win over the Oakville Rock at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre, improving their first-place record in Major Series Lacrosse to 7-1.

Higgins, who made 51 saves, cemented his status as first star by scoring into an empty net with 47 seconds remaining.

But it was Williams who offered the most inspiration, and not because he finally found the back of the net after piling up 21 assists through his first four games.

Five days removed from his 40th birthday, Williams had the opportunity again to play in front of his eight-year-old son, Tucker, who is battling Burkitt’s lymphoma, but was recently released from the hospital and able to attend the game.

“The hardest part, especially with my wife being at the hospital all the time, is when you’re away from him and then you start to worry about him, but when you’re with him, he’s so positive and so outgoing, you don’t even know anything’s going on,” said Williams. “He just rolls with it and makes it a lot easier on everyone once you’re around him.”

Williams set up the game’s first goal, by Derek Hopcroft, 4:05 into the game, and then scored himself 6:54 into the second period, giving the Redmen a commanding 5-1 lead. He added another just over three minutes later, but said afterward he wasn’t really thinking about the goalless drought.

“It doesn’t matter especially with the team we have and the guys we have,” he said, noting how young players like Shayne Jackson, Dan Lintner and Curtis Knight have been scoring with regularity. “That’s the last thing I’m worried about. If you worry about it, then it’s not going to happen. You just keep playing and doing the right things and as long as we win, that’s all that matters.”

The Redmen built their big lead thanks to special teams, with Hopcroft scoring twice on the power play, Williams and Knight once each and Mike Melnychenko adding another short-handed.

The Rock chipped away, however, and narrowed the gap to 6-5 before the Redmen scored the game’s final three goals, including a momentum-shifter by John LaFontaine 5:27 into the third period.

“We had to work hard for that one,” Redmen coach and GM Wayne Colley said. “We played good enough to win.”

Colley didn’t dress a few regulars for the game, including veteran Gavin Prout, explaining that he’s trying to make sure as many players as possible suit up for the required six games to allow them to play in the post-season.

“They’re OK with that because we’re all on the same page,” Colley said. “We want to go right to the end and hopefully challenge for a championship this year. We have a little bit of depth this year and it’s a good problem to have.”

The Redmen (7-1) have a commanding lead atop the standings now, four points ahead of the Six Nations Chiefs (5-4) and eight up on the Peterborough Lakers (3-4), who were stripped of three wins for using an ineligible player.

Brooklin is off now until next Wednesday’s home date with the Brampton Excelsiors (1-4), one day after the league’s trade deadline.